Unfiltered Smoke

by Jody Coughlin

I watched Anderson Cooper’s AC 360 on CNN recently and I really don’t care what some people might say, I think he (Cooper) delivers some very decent, fair reporting laced with a refreshing amount of basic human compassion and common sense. He’s my kind of boy, that Mr. Cooper, and I have been watching his coverage of the earthquake in Haiti from the start.

One night in particular he reported on a story about a five year old boy who was rescued from the rubble in Haiti. I believe his name is Monley. Well, if you are following the story as I have been you would know that Monley was rescued after 8 days under the rubble with no food or water. Amazing. Yet, after he was reasonably back onto his feet he was sent from the makeshift hospital that took him in and into the world to live in a tent with his brothers and his uncle. A vacant look in his eyes said everything he didn’t seem to be able to say with words of his own as he was being filmed for the news story. Both his mom and dad died in the quake. The last I heard Monley did not know the truth about his parents. His uncle didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth about their demise. I don’t blame him. That would be a tough call by any stretch of the imagination.

Essentially, Monley’s recovery from dehydration and starvation came within days of proper care and treatment. The grief and sorrow and challenges ahead of this boy will not come nearly as easily and it will take years to work through the kind of pain and grief he will undoubtedly suffer as time goes on, I think to myself.

Then, I flipped the channel to CTV and there it was. The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. A source of national pride indeed. At first, I watched with a mild form of skepticism. There were girls dressed in what looked like white, space-suit mini skirts, carrying the various banners that stated the names of all the various countries as they marched around. Not bad, I guess. Well… Then again. Never mind. Back to CNN.

This time, on CNN, the story was about a girl who had to have surgery to remove chunks of cement from her brain. She had spent her recovery in what she thought was a hospital in the United States only to discover she was actually aboard a floating hospital (the USS Comfort) and she was still in Haiti. He father could not afford the fare to pick her up so a rescue worker took her to her father instead. As she left the ship she beheld the destruction of her country, her city and her home. She found out her sister and mom both died in the earthquake. She reportedly didn’t remember anything at all about the earthquake. The sequence ended with this young girl, a child, sitting on a stool clutching a bag of belongings. I imagine she was trying to make sense of it all. There was just so much for her to take in at once.

Then I flipped back to the coverage of the Olympics. The marching around was all but over. The team from the country of Georgia sported black arm bands in honor of the athlete who died (yes, died) in training practice on the luge just hours earlier that same day. He was traveling almost 150 kms/hour on the luge when he wrecked and suffered fatal injuries. But, the games must go on, right? I can’t imagine how the remaining athletes from this country feel right about now.

Anyway, on with the story. I didn’t see the entire event, but just before the games officially opened there was a performance art show which, I must say, was pretty impressive. The gist of it was about the beauty and diversity of Canada, the landscapes, the various cultures, our penchant for down playing our successes and our tendencies to always say please, thank-you and you are welcome. Well, obviously that part impressed me and I wondered if maybe I was too harsh in declaring that the Olympics should be cancelled. Maybe, but I doubt it.

Back to CNN. This time around Cooper was covering an event where the surviving Haitians had gathered in front of the Presidential Palace. There were hundreds of Haitians there. Thousands of Haitians, probably. They had gathered to recognize and mourn the loss of loved ones and they had also gathered to sing and worship and lift their voices as though they were declaring their presence and faith in the face of the devastation that surrounded them. They were making a joyful noise. There was hope in their song and hope on their faces.

Back to the Olympics. Again I saw hope as people watched the artistic performance. From moment to moment drapes and sheets of some otherworldly material were transformed into fields of unending wheat or high peaked mountain ranges. It was beautiful to behold on television and most likely it was breathtaking to witness first hand.

I began to tally it all up in my mind. I saw hope in Haiti and hope in Vancouver. It seemed like the whole world was feeling a little hopeful within the last 24 hours starting with the poorest and most troubled and finishing with the most fortunate and privileged. It was a common thread. One that I liked. I had seen this kind of thing before. I saw it when Barak Obama was elected. Everybody was happy that day. Well, mostly everyone.

I think there is a lesson I need to learn in all of this. On the one hand, we need to celebrate our life here on this amazing planet and on the other hand, if we don’t help the person next to us when they are in need, then eventually hope is lost and there is nothing to celebrate. It seems to me there could and should be a natural sequence happening here. Help those in need first and celebrate second. It could work, couldn’t it? But it doesn’t work that way. It never has and probably never will.

The endings of these two stories are very different, if my imagination serves me correctly. Today the athletes probably woke up to a healthy meal and a bright and sunny future. They have worked hard to gain such an achievement as being a part of the Olympics, I suppose, and they will be catered to because of their achievements. Is there anything wrong with that? I don’t know. Probably not.

In Haiti however, Monley and the young girl who lost her mom and sister woke up to a grumbling belly, you can be sure, and a future that seems anything but bright and sunny. I know for certain they don’t deserve that. Nobody does.

I don’t know why I am so doggedly comparing the Olympics to the crisis in Haiti, but that is where my mind goes lately. Maybe it is my own personal need to sort this stuff out. Maybe I just relish the idea of pointing out the obvious. Or maybe I am just hopeful that things will balance out somewhere along the line.